Kamila Szczęsna Process 2

Orangery Gallery

Kamila Szczęsna

Process 2

Exhibition of Kamila Szczęsna’s ceramics and sculptural installations. She is a Polish artist living in the USA and practicing spatial art.

Endlessly changing matter drives inspiration for me. Tirelessly spinning particles, explosions of freely migrating atoms, electrons effortlessly passing through our bodies; and all forming the world we try to consciously evaluate, explain and build on. With each breath we ourselves are changing.

We function in the past. Our perception of reality is as based on illusion as the light of stars reaching us long after they have collapsed or shattered into pieces. The time it takes for an impulse to travel from eye to the brain renders a conscious experience of the present impossible.

I freeze moments by embalming forms with clay. The parts of this installation are derived from the shapes of human body approached through the forms of the clothing utilized as a second skin by their previous owners. They are infused with memories and denote a semblance of the character and circumstance of their lives. This fabric now carries information no longer accessible.

The ephemeral character of the installation relies on the fact that the paused moment cannot last. The structure of air trapped in inflated balloons is destined to decline. The thin crust of clay that imposes stasis on the shapes will break. It all will be released back to tireless circulation.

“Process 2” tells a story of creating. We usually experience only the final step. The viewing of finished work. There is a practice that ends in this result. Searching, making mistakes, returning, revising, making rules or limitations and changing them. All of this is happening in the studio in an atmosphere of suspense and a certain finality. Formulating questions can be more important than searching for answers. This usually takes place backstage. “Process 2” is an invitation to the viewer to explore this territory with me.